Mesa Verde

---

---

Colorado to Arizona

Silverton was our next stop, but on the way we drove past the Red Mountains, the sight of a booming mining region in days gone by. Our photos do not do it justice, the rock was a far more intence red, a beautiful contrast to the white snow.

Silverton was another beautiful little town with the smallest church I had ever seen! We drove down the main street and had a look but didn't stay long. Then we drove on to Durrango where we stopped for lunch.

We drove from there on to Mesa Verde National Park. At Mesa Verde we saw amazing Native American Indian ruins. The most spectacular being the Cliff Palace where the native people set up a series of buildings on a ledge within the canyon. (After all a man’s house is his palace eh Dad?) They say that over 100 people lived there - that would have been cozy, you couldn’t have ongoing disputes with the neighbors!! We went on a ranger led tour which involved a lot of walking down a lot of steps to the cliff dwelling and then up a series of ladders to get back up! Those rangers must be fit doing that multiple times per day (particularly in that heat!) See the pictures below. We stayed in the campground in the park that night.

Next stop Arizona!

---

Photos

Red Mountian #1
This was taken on the way to Silverton.

Red Mountian #2
This was once a booming mining region with 6 towns and a population of more than 3,000.

Silverton #2
The tiny church in Silverton

Mesa Verde
Another cliff dwelling.

Mesa Verde
More ancient ruins